We’re working to reverse growing unemployment rate, Shettima assures Nigerians

Vice-President Kashim Shettima says the federal government is working to reverse Nigeria’s growing unemployment rate.

Shettima said this on Saturday at the launch of the Nasarawa state human capital development strategy document and gender transformative human capital development policy framework in Lafia.

He said the government is committed to empowering Nigerians with globally competitive skills which would enable them excel anywhere in the world.

Shettima said the human capital development (HCD) programme is designed to help Nigeria achieve a productive workforce.

“Enough of the distressing data on our education system—whether it is the mean years of schooling, the high pupil-to-teacher ratios, or the staggering number of youths not in employment, education, or training,” he said.

“The unemployment rates, the growing informal sector, and low labour force participation must be reversed. This is the dystopia our Human Capital Development Programme is designed to avert, under the mandate of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“For so long, at the National Economic Council, we have debated the ideal nation we wish to build and the pathways to achieve it.

“Our partnerships with the private sector are critical in achieving this. By facilitating access to resources, expertise, and innovation, we aim to make human capital development the cornerstone of a more prosperous and competitive Nigeria.”

He added that the unveiling of a blueprint for Nasarawa’s human capital challenges reaffirms the administration’s commitment to tackle the unique realities of each state.

“Nasarawa state’s commitment to the Human Capital Development (HCD) Programme, a lifeline for our nation, is built on the collective realisation that enough is enough,” he said.

“Enough of the cycles that have held us back. Enough of the legacies of unplanned high fertility rates and alarming maternal and under-five mortality rates. Enough of our vulnerable populations facing low life expectancy.

“Rather, it is an invitation for every country, and indeed sub-national entities, to rise to the challenge. Every child must have access to quality education, equitable healthcare, even as the nation’s workforce must be equipped with the skills necessary to thrive in the 21st-century economy.”